Spring Thaw Kicks off 2012 Season at Seymour Super Speedway

Monday, 02 April 2012 06:48

The 2012 season at Seymour Super Speedway is officially underway after Sunday Night April 1st. Over 135 cars competed on the 1/3 mile.

The Street Stock feature kicked the main events off with Shawn Hayden and Tony Everard leading the pack. Hayden would continue to lead with Everard right in tow. Andy Gross made his way quickly from fifth to second and set his sights on Hayden. Gross would eventually catch Hayden and a game of cat and mouse ensued. Gary Kasperek would make it a three-way dance with five laps to go. Gross could charge on the outside of Hayden with two laps remaining and make his trip from Menominee a successful one taking the feature win. Kasperek would come home with second place money. Hayden would finish third followed by Dan Gracyalny and Phil Hiles. The race went green flag to checker flag.

Brad Theys used his pole position to jump out to a good lead in the IMCA Northern Sportmod Feature. 2011 champ Brad Lautenbach would make his way to second and start tracking down Theys. Lautenbach would eventually work his way inside Theys but an eventual spin would end Lautenbach’s hopes for triumph. They’s would continue to lead through a series of midrace cautions and hold off challenges from the likes of Eric Mahlik and Tracy Wassenberg. They’s would go on to win his second straight Spring Thaw race at the speedway after a green, white, checker finish. Wassenberg would settle for second with Troy Jerovetz, Tyler Hackett and Brian Bruechert rounding out the top 5.

Mike Coel started up front in the IMCA Stockcar feature and looked early on to be the man to beat. Dave Bouche would make his bid for the lead on lap four and the duo would battle for the top spot. Through a series of cautions Brandon Czarapata who started dead last in 21st would make his way into the top 4. With a couple laps to go Czarapata made his way past Mike Schmidt and John Heinz and ran second. Czarapata would catch Coel and get side by side coming into turn three on the last lap. Czarapata used his inside presence to grab the lead off of turn four and take the checker flag. Coel would have to settle for second place money. Heinz would recover from an early caution and finish third. Schmidt would run fourth with 2011 champion Kyle Frederick finishing fifth.

Benji LaCrosse would start on the pole with Brian Mullen right behind in the Budweiser IMCA Modified Feature. LaCrosse would lead every lap with Mullen right behind. The duo would continue to be the top two through a caution filled race. On the final restart with four laps to go, Mullen stayed on the back bumper of LaCrosse. Off of turn four coming to the white flag Mullen shot to the inside and grabbed the lead. Mullen would lead only one lap in the feature but it would be the most important lap. The 2011 champ would take home top pay with LaCrosse in second. Shawn Kilgore ran a solid third. James Tebon who ran up front all race finished fourth. Jerry Wilinski came from deep in the field to finish fifth.

Terry Van Roy who drew the pole for both the heat and feature in the Grand Nationals took early control of the race. A nasty flip on lap two had Arianna Beattie on her lid. She was alright. Once the race restarted Donny Sorce would got to the outside of Van Roy and with five laps to go take the lead. He would run smoothly to the win. Van Roy finished second with Todd Smith third, Kevin Damrow fourth and Charlie Sancinati fifth.

Pete Parker jumped out to a nice lead early in the Late Model Feature. He looked to be in control of the win until Jim Schmidt made his way around Parker on the topside of the track for the lead. Schmidt would pull away from the field for the time being. Nick Anvelink would finally make his way into second place and try to run down Schmidt. Anvelink would chase Schmidt through lapped traffic. He would be able to chase down Schmidt nearly a whole straightaway but would run out of laps. Schmidt would take the win with Anvelink finishing second on the back bumper at the checker flag. Russ Scheffler finished third. Troy Springborn and Pete Parker rounded out the top 5. The race went green to checker.

Brian Johnson who is the two time defending 4 Cylinder champ had his lead erased with two laps to go in the feature. Calvin Stueck would have one last chance at the win but came up short. Johnson won the race ahead of Stueck. Evan Beattie finished third while Cody Hungerford and Kasey Gross rounded out the top 5.

The points season opener will get underway Sunday Night April 22. The races will start at 5 p.m.

Seymour Super Speedway’s GPS Address is Seymour Speedway, 637 North Main St. Seymour, WI 54165. The track phone number is (920) 833-7726. You can contact Cosmo at (920) 420-8838.